Josef Frank’s Hortus pot in cast iron is the original in the Hortus series. It was designed in 1941, two years before the glass versions were produced for Svenskt Tenn’s spring exhibition in 1943. Only five cast iron Hortus pots were previously produced by Åkers Styckebruk, where the mould has been kept at the mill’s museum. Today, the pot is manufactured at Näfveqvarn mill. The pot is best suited for indoor use but can also be used outdoors.

Designer

Josef Frank

Josef Frank grew up in Vienna and studied architecture at Technische Hochschule (the Vienna University of Technology) in 1903 – 1908. In the 1920s he designed housing estates and large residential blocks built around common courtyards in a Vienna with severe housing shortages. In 1925, he founded the Haus & Garten interior firm together with architect colleague Oskar Wlach. Svenskt Tenn hired Josef Frank in 1934 and just a few years later he and Estrid Ericson made their international breakthrough. Although he was already 50 when he left the burgeoning Nazism in Vienna for Sweden, Frank is considered one of Sweden’s most important designers. Read more